LAHORE: Head coaches of the six Cricket Associations on Wednesday confirmed their 16-player squads for this month’s National Twenty20 Cup. The squads were finalised from a pool of players, which the head coaches had selected on August 28. In accordance with the event format and team requirements, the head coaches will select and announce their squads for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and 50-over Pakistan Cup closer to these competitions. The First XI National T20 Cup, for the first time, will be held on a double-league basis. The format has been changed keeping in view the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and to provide the players with more opportunities to stake claims in the national side. With the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 Draft to also take place in November, the tournament provides a great opportunity for country’s best T20 players to impress the team owners with their talent and mettle. Northern will defend both the First XI and Second XI titles. The First XI matches will be played in Multan (1st round) and Rawalpindi (2nd round, semi-finals and final) from 30 September to 18 October and Second XI fixtures in Lahore from 1-8 October.
Northern’s First XI head coach Mohammad Wasim has named a strong side, which will be captained by Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim. Balochistan, last year’s runners-up, will continue to be captained by Pakistan international Haris Sohail. Pakistan T20I captain Babar Azam will lead Central Punjab A star-studded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be captained by wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan. Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will be back in the captaincy role, determined not only to give strong performances to stake a claim for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe but also help Sindh reach the final. Southern Punjab will be coached by Abdul Rehman, who has retained Shan Masood as his team’s captain. Other players who have featured in international matches include Aamir Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali (subject to fitness) and Sohaib Maqsood.
Squads
1: Balochistan
First XI: Haris Sohail (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Akbar-ur-Rehman, Akif Javed, Ammad Butt, Awais Zia, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Butt, Imran Farhat, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Taimur Khan, Umaid Asif, Umar Gul, Usama Mir and Yasir Shah.
Second XI: Sami Aslam (captain), Jalat Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Nasir, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akhtar Shah, Ayaz Tasawar, Gohar Faiz, Gulraiz Sadaf (wicketkeeper), Hayat Ullah, Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha, Najeebullah Achakzai, Rameez Raja Jnr, Salahuddin and Taj Wali.
2: Central Punjab
First XI: Babar Azam (captain), Saad Nasim (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Ahmed Bashir, Bilal Asif, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Hussain, Sohaibullah, Usman Qadir and Zafar Gohar.
Second XI: Nauman Anwar (captain), Raza Ali Dar (vice-captain), Atiq-ur-Rehman, Aitzaz Habib Khan, Bilawal Iqbal, Fahad Usman, Junaid Ali, Kamran Afzal, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Saad, Nisar Ahmad, Suleman Shafqat, Waqas Maqsood and Zubair Khan Lodhi.
3: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:
First XI: Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Junaid Khan (vice-captain), Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Mohsin, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan Shinwari, Wahab Riaz and Zohaib Khan.
Second XI: Mehran Ibrahim (captain), Rehan Afridi (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Adil Amin, Asad Afridi, Israrullah, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Arif Shah, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Musaddiq Ahmad, Nabi Gul, Sajid Khan and Sameen Gul.
4: Northern
First XI: Imad Wasim (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Farzan Raja, Haider Ali, Hammad Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sohail Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Amin and Zeeshan Malik.
Second XI: Nauman Ali (captain), Umair Masood (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Aamer Jamal, Athar Mehmood, Faizan Riaz, Mohammad Ismail, Nasir Nawaz, Naved Malik, Nihal Mansoor, Raza Hasan, Salman Irshad, Sarmad Bhatti, Shiraz Khan, Shoaib Ahmad Minhas, Taimur Sultan and Zaid Alam.
5: Sindh
First XI: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Ahsan Ali, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Hassan Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Taha, Rumman Raees, Sharjeel Khan and Sohail Khan.
Second XI: Fawad Alam (captain), Hasan Mohsin (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Ali, Ammad Alam, Asad Raza, Ghulam Mudassar, Ibtisam Sheikh, Jahid Ali, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Umar, Rameez Aziz, Saad Ali, Saifullah Bangash, Shahnawaz and Omair Bin Yousuf.
6: Southern Punjab:
First XI: Shan Masood (captain), Hussain Talat (vice-captain), Aamir Yamin, Ali Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali (subject to fitness), Saif Baddar, Sohaib Maqsood, Umer Khan, Umar Siddiq Khan, Zahid Mehmood and Zeeshan Ashraf (wicketkeeper).
Second XI: Naved Yasin (captain), Agha Salman Ali (vice-captain), Maqbool Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Ali Usman, Anus Mustafa, Dilbar Hussain, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Rameez, Mohammad Umair, Mohammd Irfan Jnr, Mukhtar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Zain Abbas and Zia-ul-Haq.
